To think that funding free breakfast clubs is wrong-headed?

[WaahWaahWinston]

Government is to fund free breakfast clubs for all primary school children. This doesn't strike me as the best use of money for schools; I imagine there are better things to spend money on that would be of greater educational benefit to children.

It may help a tiny proportion of families but breakfast is probably the easiest and cheapest meal for families to provide to children. (I doubt breakfast clubs will be providing full English or other cooked breakfasts of the sort that one could argue families are hard-pushed to provide.)

So I don't see the compelling need. Why spend money on this of all things, when there must be other improvements that could be funded which would improve education specifically?

It needs to be directed at schools/areas with high deprivation e.g. Blackpool. Some places just don't need ut the same.

Parents don't need to know. Kids go into breakfast club of their own free will.

@lilstarr99 But why would primary school children who need safeguarding be more likely to turn up at breakfast club? Why would parents who don’t drop their kids off at normal school time be more likely to drop them off even earlier for breakfast? Genuinely wondering if I’m missing something? It seems like the kids who often don’t turn up would be even less likely to turn up even earlier?

At primary school level they won't be able to if it's before school, will they?

And half the kids round us go on school buses which arrives 10 minutes before school starts at secondary, which doesn't work either.

My kids use breakfast club it guarantees that they are fed if say come Monday everything has been eaten and there is literally not a pot to piss in left in my home secondly it's about them having a bit of play and fun before school it's structured and a good part of routine my son likes to make sure his in to play uno with another child and my other son looks forwards to laptops on Friday mornings and I like the idea that they are fed and ready to seize the day. People in poverty get it and people who have support from family and money don't. We're all dealt different hands in life and morally people should keep opinions to themselves unless they understand the struggles.

This but I can't see those parents getting up at 6am caring about getting there kids into breakfast club.

Also those saying it's just neglectful that parents can't feed their kids in the mornings. You do no how fast kids can get through loafs of bread and cereal how small the quantities are I can do a 100pound food shop on a Friday and it will be gone by the Monday because my kids don't stop eating. Breakfast club helps me manage supplies at home so some days if we wake up a bit later the kids can have toast or cereal people are associating breakfast club with just food it's socialising aswell and being prepared to learn it is not neglectful of the parents as I will give my kids toast before they go and sometimes they don't even eat at club so
People who are judging parents for it need to actually research or go to a breakfast club and do a survey.

There are lots of side issues but a very quick search for research on this subject brings up:

https://family-action.org.uk/news-insight/impact-of-breakfast-on-learning-in-children/

so basically yes - it works to give breakfast. Children aren’t to blame for their home life. The problem needs addressing.

in the first instance we need to help the children.

then we need to sort out the kind of society that means parents can’t/ don’t feed their kids. and the kind of society that thinks it’s better to chastise parents who can’t feed their kids than to help them.

i have strong opinions on cereal as a good idea, i think we’ve been sold a pup by big multinationals, but we are where we are.

Totally agree. Many kids don’t fancy breakfast early in the morning in. Our school already strays at 8.30 so now we need to be there at 8, kids have activities after school until 8pm they aren’t getting enough sleep. The free breakfast will no doubt be cheap, ultra processed junk so I and many other parents will be giving their children breakfast before breakfast club. They’d be better means testing or providing fruit for snacks for all classes, hungry kids who generally aren’t getting breakfast would eat that at a fraction of the cost. Or provide means tested food vouchers for low income families. It’s a sledgehammer nut situation.